Meteorite?!

[Lwinders88]

Found in Arizona desert. Very magnetic. 987 grams. Sanded a little to see what was under the brownish red..as shown in pic. Any ideas would be awesome!

 

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[tamrock]

That one looks like a good possibility. It needs to be inspected first hand by someone who knows what a genuine meteorite should be.

 

[Kray Gelder]

I like this one. Not gonna reject it out of hand. It's a great size, too! I see no bubbles, pockets, embedded stuff. It's homogeneous all around. You may have a winner! Best candidate I've seen posted here. Good luck!

 

[Lwinders88]

And where would I find someone that knows genuine meteorites?!

 

[Lwinders88]

Thank you!! It was a very cool find!

 

[MadTom]

A university near you?

 

[Lwinders88]

Great idea! Thanx for the input!

 

[galenrog]

Since we may have a winner, please do not do anything else to it. You could easily lower the value of the item, should you decide to sell or donate it in the future. I know that many would be tempted to make it shiny, but just....don’t.

If you had brought the item to me, before the arthritis made it painful to manipulate rocks, I would have ground and polished an area of less than a half centimeter square. Once I got the window polished to 4000 grit or finer, an application and rinse of dilute nitric acid would have been checked for what is called Widmanstatten Pattern. While it is easy to find directions online to do this, it is far easier to find directions that will result in failure.

Back to your rock. While it has visual characteristics that could be interpreted as meteoritic in origin, it also has characteristics of a high grade iron ore nodule. Something not uncommon in parts of Arizona. One of the next tests will be that of nickel. Not an assay. Just a simple test to determine if nickel is present. Again, while examples of proper tests can be found online, examples of improper tests are easier to find.

Please ensure that a qualified professional gets ahold of this item. Way too many people with degrees in earth sciences have never attempted to identify a suspected meteorite. Any University or Museum that has a section that identifies meteorites should do.

Nearly every qualified professional in this field will require payment of some kind for their services. Monetary payment, a portion of the item being tested, or both. I used to charge between $10 and $25 just to open a small window.

My best to you on this find. Please keep the forum updated on each step you take.

Time for more coffee.

 

[Lwinders88]

Wow! Way cool knowledge! Thank you for sharing with me! I won’t do anything else to it and I think the college is my next step for possible identification. I will keep the forum updated. Thank you again��

 

[Terry Soloman]

If it is real, it's worth $$$$$$$$

 

[Lwinders88]

Galenrog..when I take this rock in, I’d like to have a little possible knowledge on my possible winner we got here. If I may pick your brain for a moment. Hypothetically speaking of course. If it is real: what kind If meteorite would it be? I know there are several. And how much is a possible winner like this worth? Should I have it under armed guards or is back in the rock garden, till I get to the college, sufficient storage?! I do appreciate the info you’ve provided thus far and look forward to any more your willing to share!

 

[Kray Gelder]

Lwinders, a couple of years ago, I sent photos to the Smithsonian, http://mineralsciences.si.edu, of what I thought might be a meteorite. They got back to me within a couple of days. Mine, of course, was a meteorwrong, but they did get back quickly. At the S.I., for meteorite inquiries, their number is 202-633-1843. Good luck!!!

 

[Lwinders88]

Thank you Kray Gelder! Great info!

 

[ToddsPoint]

A friend of mine found a meteorite and took it to the U of I. They wanted to keep it for a time to "study" it. It took him 5 yrs. and a lawyer to get it back. Gary

 

[tamrock]

This is a genuine nickel iron meteorite, in my hand. It was in the office of one of my customers who is the rock, gem and mineral specimen buyer for Collectors Edge a company that travels the globe to hunt for rare and exotic samples they sell to retail rock shops and serious collectors. I believe he said he purchased this in Namibia?. I sell them stuff for their rhodochrosite mine in Park county, Colorado. I also pickup my heavy freight at their warehouse, because they got a forklift to offload my truck deliveries. The guy is always abroad looking for exotic specimens. He's basically a paid treasure hunter and has been doing it a long time. He could tell you if it's genuine. I'll show him your picture next time I head over there.

 

[galenrog]

We are not talking $millions here. We are talking, potentially, $tens to $thousands. My knowledge of meteorites comes from others and from experience cutting for others. Kray and tamrock give good starting points. Gary gives a narrative of what not to do.

Alas, I can give you no advice beyond “do your own homework”. Things have changes a lot since the “Meteorite Men”, and others, started infesting TV and other video platforms. Many legitimate labs were inundated with thousands of meteorwrongs, with the submitters expecting free service. Being overwhelmed, many stopped taking submissions from the public.

The worst cases were those who submitted common earth rocks, then sued, demanding that their submission be certified as a genuine meteorites.

I stopped submitting suspected meteorites several years ago, not long after a stroke. The University I regularly used no longer accepts submissions from the general public.

Time for more coffee.

 

[A2coins]

I have seen so many possible meteorites on here ya never know follow the good advice and let us know

 

[A2coins]

Welcome also. Tommy

 

[Lwinders88]

ToddsPoint..u know, thats the kind of thing that I’ve been really concerned about! Trusting it to someone or ones and then trying to pull a fast one..so Thank You for putting that out there so I know I should be concerned, even with a University! Thanx again ToddsPoint!

 

[Lwinders88]

Tamrock..that would be great if you would share my pics. I greatly appreciated any and all feedback as I know nothing about what I’m holding. Thank you for your time!